POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Kennedy talks marijuana with Kimmel

By Christopher Gavin Daily News Staff

Saturday

Apr 7, 2018 at 6:59 PMApr 7, 2018 at 7:00 PM

In case you didn’t catch "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday, the fourth district’s own U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III was on the ABC late-night TV show. Although he’s become a new face of the Democratic Party, Kennedy spoke about one area where he and his colleagues don’t see eye-to-eye: legalizing recreational marijuana.

Kimmel, among the variety of questions he peppered the congressman with, jokingly asked Kennedy, who has not embraced legalizing the drug like other lawmakers, "What’s wrong with you?"

“I think part of the impact of when you’re talking about the law is to make sure you get the border cases right,” said Kennedy, who admitted he’s well aware he’s outside the norm in his party on the topic. “And I do have concerns about what an increase in availability of legal marijuana means for adolescents, what it means for folks who struggle with addiction.”

Federal laws regarding marijuana - which still recognize the drug as illegal, no matter how many states legalize recreational use - are structured in a way that make them incomprehensible, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration are making them worse, Kennedy said.

Earlier this year Sessions rolled back an Obama-era policy that had the federal government following a hands-off approach to marijuana industries in states that have legalized the drug.

Sessions instead opted to have federal prosecutors decide whether or not to take action.

“I acknowledge the fact that ... I’m an outlier on this," Kennedy told Kimmel. "It’s just something we want to be careful and deliberate about."

Over the course of their 10-minute conversation, the two also touched on how Kennedy was asked to give the State of the Union response speech back in January, health care, and what life was like growing up inside the country’s largest political family.

Kennedy, who is up for re-election this year, won a third term in 2016 on the same ballot where voters opted to legalize marijuana across the commonwealth.

His district spans from Milford to Brookline and as far south as Fall River.

Spilka’s PATCH bill now law

State Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, recently had her “Act to Protect Access to Confidential Health Care,” or PATCH bill, signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker.

The measure requires the Division of Insurance to create a form for Massachusetts health insurance carriers to use that less specifically lists charges on patient bills to improve patient privacy.

It passed the Senate on Feb. 14 and became law March 30.

“Thank you to (state) Rep. Kate Hogan, (state) Sen. Jamie Eldridge, my colleagues in the Massachusetts State Senate and House and especially to all of the advocates for your work to ensure access to confidential health care,” Spilka wrote in a Facebook post last week. “This is a critical step for patient privacy and in particular helps minors, young adults and victims of domestic abuse feel comfortable seeking health care services, without fear that their sensitive information will be shared with a family member.”

In other news, the State House News Service reported Thursday that Spilka is set to take over the reins of the Senate presidency from state Sen. Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, the week of July 23.

Markey keeps questions on Zuckerberg

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, continued his calls for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to explain how his company will handle its response to Cambridge Analytica’s access to Facebook user data.

Last week, the social media company announced that the personal information of approximately 87 million users may have been shared.

“The tsunami of outrage incited by the Cambridge Analytica revelations has made one thing perfectly clear - the American people demand to regain control over their sensitive information. ...Mark Zuckerberg must explain what recourse will be provided to users who have already been subjected to abusive and intrusive invasions of their privacy and how Facebook's new policies will give the American public meaningful control over their sensitive information,” Markey said in a statement.

Markey, along with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, penned a letter to Zuckerberg last month that called on him to answer questions and testify before Congress about the issue.

Zuckerberg is now set to testify Wednesday.

Cambridge Analytica is a political consulting firm that had ties to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Christopher Gavin covers social movements and politics as well as the towns of Milford and Hopedale for the Daily News. He can be reached at 508-634-7582 or cgavin@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @c_gavinMDN